When one of Pakistan’s finest directors, Mehreen Jabbar, says that Pakistani content is missing from global streaming platforms not because it lacks quality but because programming decisions are influenced by politics, people should pay attention.

After all, this is someone who has spent decades making films and television dramas, working both in Pakistan and internationally. She understands not only how content is made but also how it is bought, commissioned and distributed. Her assessment confirms what many in Pakistan’s entertainment industry have quietly believed for years.

The absence of Pakistani content from platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video has little to do with quality. It has far more to do with geography, politics and who gets to decide what the world watches.

That should concern anyone who believes that streaming platforms are genuine marketplaces of ideas rather than gatekeepers shaped by political realities. The irony is impossible to miss.

These platforms routinely describe themselves as global, diverse and committed to discovering stories from every corner of the world. Yet one country with a thriving television industry, a proven international audience and decades of storytelling excellence remains largely shut out.

Streaming platforms are genuine marketplaces of ideas rather than gatekeepers shaped by political realities.

Streaming platforms are genuine marketplaces of ideas rather than gatekeepers shaped by political realities.

One fact stands out. The South Asian regional headquarters of both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video........

© The Friday Times